New Features Headed to Amazon Fire TV, Stick

Good news, Fire TV and Fire TV Stick owners. Amazon is rolling out an update for its set-top box and smaller streaming stick, bringing a number of new features, including expandable USB storage on the Fire TV and support for hotel and dorm room Wi-Fi.

These new features will arrive as part of a free, over-the-air software update in the coming weeks, Amazon said.

Following the update, you'll be able to use a connected USB drive with your Fire TV for additional storage, meaning more apps and games at your fingertips. The update will also let you connect to Wi-Fi networks that require Web authentication, including the Wi-Fi at most major hotels and some universities.

The update also brings support for wireless Bluetooth headphones on the Fire TV , so you can listen to a movie without waking up everyone else in the house. In addition, those who subscribe to Amazon Prime will be able to enjoy hundreds of "hand-crafted" music playlists directly from the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick .

There's also some new shortcuts, letting you quickly put your device to sleep or enable display mirroring by pressing and holding the Home button on your remote. Besides that, Amazon has tweaked the PIN entry screen so that it hides the numbers you selected, ensuring your kids and visitors can't see your password as you enter it to confirm a purchase.

"Customer response to Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick has been overwhelming — we've been working hard to build more of both as quickly as possible, and we're excited to be adding new features we think customers will love," Peter Larsen, vice president of Amazon devices, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Amazon also on Tuesday announced that the Fire TV Stick will soon be available for purchase in the U.K. and Germany. It's available for pre-order now, and will start shipping on April 15.

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"In the UK and Germany, Fire TV is already the best-selling streaming media box on Amazon, and we're thrilled to be bringing our fastest-selling Amazon device ever — Fire TV Stick — to the UK and Germany," Larsen said. "We think millions of customers in the UK and Germany are going to love this product."

In other Amazon news, the company is expanding its one-hour Prime Now delivery service to Baltimore and Miami. Prime Now debuted in December in Manhattan, and offers fast delivery on thousands of items via a mobile app.

Meanwhile, Amazon's Prime Music is taking on Pandora with an update to its iOS app that incorporates ad-free Prime Stations that offer unlimited skips.

Angela has been a PCMag reporter since January 2012. Prior to joining the team, she worked as a reporter for SC Magazine, covering everything related to hackers and computer security. Angela has also written for The Northern Valley Suburbanite in New Jersey, The Dominion Post in West Virginia, and the Uniontown-Herald Standard in Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of West Virginia University's Perely Isaac Reed School of Journalism.
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